SUNDRE – The Town of Sundre has submitted an application to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (EPA) to renew its existing approval for the wastewater treatment facility.
The procedural step is the latest development toward completing a major technological upgrade that has been in the works for years with the intention of improving the effluent released back in the Red Deer River to meet updated provincial standards.
“We’re feeling really happy today because we’ve met all the check marks that we had to do to finally make the application,” mayor Richard Warnock told the Albertan on July 17 when reached for comment.
According to the EPA website, the notice of application was posted on July 14 and will remain on display until Aug. 13.
“We will then just wait for the province to give us a licence to proceed,” said Warnock, adding when asked that he could not confirm how long that might take.
“I wish I could give you an answer to that,” he said.
“(But) once the province gives us a licence for that, the way I understand it, then we go through the process of building the plant to meet the effluent standards,” he said.
“Whatever the government requires us to do, we will definitely be doing in a timely manner.”
In a statement posted July 16 on the town’s social media, the municipality announced it is seeking to renew the approval for its wastewater facility, which is expecting a long-awaited upgrade to a more advanced system that will discharge treated water into the river and “meet stricter environmental standards for phosphorus and ammonia removal.”
Late last year, council was presented an administrative report outlining the successful completion of a one-year trial testing phase of the technology that reportedly exceeded expectations.
The public notice posted by AEP states the town is upgrading the existing lagoon to an advanced wastewater treatment facility that will discharge continuously into the Red Deer River.
The facility has always continuously discharged effluent into the river.
“It’s nothing new,” said Shane Vollett, with Sundre’s operations department.
“We’ve always had continual discharge, which is very unusual for smaller communities,” he elaborated.
“Normally, what they do is they have a big pond and they fill it up and they release it once (or twice) a year.”
That would be the case for Sundre if the municipality did not have the readily accessible waterway, he said.
“This upgrade aims to meet stringent regulatory requirements for total phosphorus and ammonia-nitrogen removal to protect the watershed,” reads part of AEP’s statement.
The project will not replace but rather enhance the existing three-cell sewage lagoon system, which will include:
• a collection system
• raw wastewater storage
• aerated and facultative lagoons
• pH monitoring and adjustment
• electro flocculation system
• three-stage filtration system consisting of multimedia filters, granular activated carbon filters, and zeolite filters
• UV disinfection system to reduce or eliminate microorganisms
• sludge treatment
• and a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system used for monitoring and controlling industrial processes.
“The renewal will ensure that water continues to be treated in accordance with current standards and guidelines set by Alberta Environment and Protected Areas,” reads part of the notice.
“A directly affected person may provide input into certain regulatory decisions, as allowed by the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act.”
The project, whose total cost is estimated at $11.5 million of which the province is providing $7.5 million, is the result of a partnership between the Town of Sundre, the Alberta government, as well as private sector technology partners.
The sewage lagoon is located immediately north of the municipality’s northeast residential subdivision just west of Centre Street North or the James River Road.
The notice can be viewed online at https://avw.alberta.ca/PublicNoticesViewer.aspx / by clicking here and referencing application number 014-1198.
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